


follow where i lead

by biblionerd07



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: 5 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Protectiveness, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 07:38:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13993623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biblionerd07/pseuds/biblionerd07
Summary: Five times Derek and Penelope took each other at their word, plus one time it took some convincing.





	follow where i lead

**Author's Note:**

> There's brief mentions of Morgan's canon abuse but nothing deep or graphic. This is also the first m/f fic I've ever written lmao.

_i._

 

Rossi’s new on the job, and Penelope hasn’t decided if she likes him. For one thing, she still misses Gideon, though she’s mad at him, too, for leaving and for not saying goodbye and for hurting Reid’s feelings. This new guy Rossi is fine, but it took a good while to get Gideon to warm up to her and she can’t just replace him overnight. And Derek didn’t say what happened between him and Rossi that set him on edge during that horrifyingly disgusting cannibal case, but she could tell there was something even while it was happening. Derek’s not spiteful toward change like she is. He wouldn’t be so curt with someone unless there was a reason.

So Penelope’s wary with Rossi. He’s mostly nice to her, and he doesn’t know even the most basic tech skills so he thinks she’s some kind of genius. Which she is, obviously, but it’s still nice to be acknowledged as such. But she always reserves a little kernel of annoyance toward him for Derek’s sake. And because sometimes he drinks the last of the coffee without making a new pot.

“I know what you’re doing,” Derek says one day while he’s in her lair, looming over her in a way she doesn’t mind. He’s the only person with looming privileges. “And you shouldn’t. Just be nice to him.”

“Huh? What?” She protests innocently. “Who am I not nice to?”

“Rossi.” Derek rarely beats around the bush. She loves it.

“I’m perfectly nice to him.”

“No, you’re perfectly neutral to him,” he corrects. “And I know you’d be nicer to him if you didn’t think I didn’t like him.”

“You don’t like him,” Penelope points out.

“I don’t not like him,” Derek counters.

Penelope flaps a hand. “Not _not_ liking him is the same as not liking him. You don’t have to tell me what happened. I don’t need to know to be on your side. You and me, baby. Your friends are my friends and your non-friends are my non-friends.”

Derek huffs and rolls his eyes, but he’s got that look on his face that says he loves her.

“Okay, baby girl,” he says. “How about we both agree to try to like him.”

Penelope sighs dramatically. “If that’s what you want, my love.”

He tugs at a lock of her hair and winks. “You always give me what I want.” He takes off to go save the world and leaves her smiling all day.

 

_ii_.

 

Derek’s shoulder is dislocated. He knows the feeling, because this isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. He could pop it back in himself, but they’ve already got the guy in custody and he can let the EMTs do it. He’s supposed to be trusting people more. He promised Hotch he’d try.

But then the EMTs start talking about going to the hospital, follow up appointments, all that. He shakes his head.

“It’s fine,” he says. “Just pop it back in.”

Normally they probably wouldn’t do it, but this case is in DC and the EMT’s a guy Derek knows, Adams or Adamson or something. Adam is definitely somewhere in his name. Derek should learn his name better. He pops Derek’s shoulder back in and even does Derek a solid and looks away when he can’t quite keep a tear or two out of his eye. It’s a physical reaction. Really. He’s going to be sore for a while, but he’s fine overall. It’s certainly not the worst injury he’s ever had.

“Oh hello, my favorite man,” Garcia says when she turns around to see him in her doorway once he gets back. “Wait, what’s wrong?”

“What?”

“There’s something wrong with you. What happened? Are you okay?” She’s up out of her chair and hovering around him, afraid to touch in case she hurts him.

“Just a dislocated shoulder,” Derek assures her. “EMTs popped it back in. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, ow,” she says sympathetically. She touches his shoulder gently. It’s not even the hurt shoulder but he appreciates the care she takes. “Did you take anything for it?”

“Uh…” He hems and haws a bit. She knows him too well.

“Derek! Withstanding pain is not a virtue. Take something.” She sticks a finger in his face. “I am not going to watch you grit your teeth and ignore it all night.”

“Who says you’re going to see me all night?” It’s not like Derek’s opposed. They just didn’t have anything planned. Garcia rolls her eyes.

“You got hurt. You’re coming with me and we’re watching a movie and you’re going to take something for the pain. No argument.”

He can tell from the set of her lips resistance is futile, so he doesn’t bother. He kisses the side of her head and puts his good arm around her shoulders to guide her out. “Yes, my queen,” he says agreeably. “Let’s go.”

 

_iii._

 

Cases with kids have always been hard on Derek. Now, of course, Penelope knows why, but it’s not like knowing makes it hurt any less. It hurts more. Every time she gets a case file with child abduction and signs of assault or abuse, she hesitates for a split second. She knows they have to take those cases, knows Derek would never want her to turn down a case because she’s worried about his psyche, but she can’t help it. So she wants her best friend to be happy and unbothered at all times; is that a crime?

But of course she always takes those bad kid cases, and of course Derek’s always a bit of a wreck during and after. He starts doing better after he starts therapy, but what happened to him is never going to go away. All Penelope can do is answer every phone call and be ready and waiting when he needs her.

So she jumps to it when her phone rings. “Baby love,” she says. It’s the first endearment that pops out of her mouth, and it’s kind of weird, especially in the context. She winces but Derek doesn’t comment on it.

“We got him,” he says. He sounds so tired. Her arms feel itchy, wanting to hug him. “We’re on our way home now.”

“Okay,” she responds. “Good.”

There’s silence on the line, but she can still hear him breathing. She wants to ask if he’s okay, but without seeing him it’s hard to judge his mental state. Sometimes he lashes out when she pushes at the wrong time. He’s working on it, but this case was a bad one. Worse than usual. She’s going to have nightmares, and she didn’t have to look at the fresh bodies at crime scenes like he did.

“Are you…” He trails off for a second and she holds her breath. “Where you gonna be when we get back?”

“Here,” she says immediately. “Right here.”

“Okay,” he murmurs. “Can I come see you?”

Penelope shakes her head even though he can’t see her. “You never have to ask.”

“I know.” He sighs. “Okay. See you soon.”

“Hey,” she cuts in quickly. “Are you—I guess it’s a stupid question. But are you okay?”

He sighs again. “Not really,” he admits. It’s a big deal that he’s even saying that. He used to try to brush it all off. “But I will be.”

“Good,” she says, not arguing. He’ll be okay. She can handle that. “I’m here waiting for you.”

“Be there soon, baby girl.”

Penelope lets her head drop back and looks at the ceiling. He’ll be okay. And she’ll be there.

 

_iv._

 

Derek doesn’t eavesdrop on Garcia and Kevin or anything. He gets into the elevator and heads to the parking garage. But he does linger a bit. He has a stomachache from thinking about Garcia and Kevin right now. He’s worried. She was freaking out pretty badly up there. He doesn’t like when she spins out like that, especially when he can’t do anything to fix it. And he just knows they’re not going to talk in Garcia’s office. They’ll be right there by the elevator, having a serious discussion they shouldn’t have out in the open. Everyone’s going to hear and they’ll be the gossip around the Bureau for weeks to come. Garcia likes attention, but not like that.

And it’s not that Derek doesn’t like Kevin. Kevin’s a nice guy, and he treats Garcia right—he looks at her like she’s amazing, and Derek appreciates that. That’s how the guy _should_ look at Garcia. But for some reason, the thought of her saying yes to Kevin’s proposal is making him…uncomfortable. Maybe he’s just influenced by what she was saying upstairs, all that stuff about relationships and changing. He knows she isn’t sure about marriage, so he doesn’t want her to feel boxed in. Kevin’s going to get all enthusiastic about it and talk and make plans and she won’t want to disappoint him or hurt his feelings. What if she says yes and regrets it? She should say no. She said she didn’t want to get married. He’s pretty sure she’ll say no.

He’s still not really prepared when the elevator opens and reveals Garcia with tear tracks on her face. Derek doesn’t exactly rush over to her, but he doesn’t hang around waiting for her to come to him.

“Oh, baby,” he says, holding out his arms. She walks into them and stays there. She starts sniffling and he tightens his arms around her. He hates when she cries. “You want to talk about it?”

“No,” she answers. “Not yet, maybe.”

“Okay,” he says, rubbing her back. “That’s fine. Let’s go get some dinner.”

“Not Thai.”

That doesn’t make any sense, because Thai is her favorite. He can name at least a dozen occasions where she’s told him she could live on Thai food alone. He can think of times she suggested something else, but never once where she specified that she doesn’t want Thai food.

“Not Thai,” he agrees. He doesn’t care if she never eats Thai again. She’s here with him, and that’s what matters.

 

_v._

 

“Okay, okay,” JJ laughs. “That was a lie. Drink up.”

Penelope grumbles as she takes her shot. Playing drinking games based on bluffing with a bunch of profilers is a terrible idea. She’s losing every round and the world is starting to get comfortably blurry. Tomorrow’s going to be a lot less comfortable—she’s not twenty-five anymore, that’s for sure—but for now she’s enjoying herself.

“Go, Reid,” Penelope says, grimacing through the tequila. Derek laughs and knocks his knee into hers.

“Don’t forget the lime,” he says in her ear. The bar is loud and busy and they’re all stuffed into a booth together. He doesn’t make it all the way back over to his space, but she hardly notices these days.

“I had to get stitches when I was seven because I thought I could make replica wings based on Leonardo de Vinci’s models in his journals,” Reid says. He’s completely straight-faced and Penelope has no trouble believing a tiny baby Spencer Reid knew about Leonardo de Vinci and was reading his journals at seven.

“Lie,” JJ says, almost bored. “There’s no way you didn’t understand aerodynamics by then.”

“Ugh,” Reid says. He throws back his tequila while everyone laughs.

“Your genius is a curse,” JJ says, mussing up Reid’s hair.

“You know, JJ is winning,” Penelope points out, proud of how little she’s slurring. “She’s the newest profiler and she’s kicking your asses.”

“She’s kicking your ass, too,” Reid points out.

Penelope waves a hand. “Duh. Profilers vs. tech queen. I knew coming in I’d be coming out sloshed.”

“Sloshed?” Blake asks, laughing.

“PG likes to get sloppy drunk,” JJ reveals. “Only sometimes, though. Responsibly.”

“Hey,” Penelope says, laughing but sort of feeling like she should defend herself. JJ’s always on her side, but light teasing is still on the table. Derek puts his arm around her shoulders.

“My baby girl is never _sloppy_ ,” he corrects. “She just enjoys a good night out.”

“Thank you, my prince.”

“Your turn, Morgan,” Reid says.

“Okay. Hmmm…” Derek makes a big show of stroking his chin and Penelope falls into his shoulder, laughing. “How about this. I have never regretted joining the BAU, not even once.”

Reid tips his head, assessing. JJ narrows her eyes.

“No way,” Blake says. “Everyone regrets it some days.”

“Yeah, I call bullshit,” JJ agrees.

“It’s not a lie!” Derek protests.

“His body language says he’s telling the truth,” Reid points out.

“He is a great liar,” JJ reminds them.

“I’m telling you—truth,” Derek says. He raises his right hand like he’s swearing an oath in court. “I have never regretted it.”

“Maybe you’re telling yourself that and you believe your own lie,” Reid theorizes.

“No,” Penelope cuts in. “Truth.”

“What, he says it’s the truth and you just believe him, no guarantee?” Blake asks.

“Yes,” Penelope says simply. She accepts a fist-bump and a wide smile from Derek, and that’s all the guarantee she needs.

_+1_

Derek gets antsy when Garcia’s out in the field with them. He likes her safe in her lair where the worst that can happen is a paper cut or, notably and only once, a little shock from trying to switch the plugs on her computers around. When she comes with them to a city where they’re hunting down brutal serial killers, he worries. It’s not that he doesn’t worry about the rest of the team when they’re working, too, but Garcia’s different. The easy answer for why she’s different is she’s not a field agent, isn’t trained the way the rest of them are. There’s a more complicated answer he tries to ignore that mostly boils down to: because she’s Garcia.

When she travels with them, Garcia stays wherever they’ve set up shop, mostly; wherever the computers are. He doesn’t have to worry _too_ much, because she’s usually surrounded by cops. She does the tech stuff and charms the officers of whatever city they’re in and he can keep his worry in the back of his mind until they’re on the jet home and he can exhale.

Unfortunately, sometimes the danger comes to the command center, and it happens to come to the command center while Derek’s miles away. The call that comes through on the radio reports shots fired toward a federal agent, and Derek’s heart stops. All the defensive driving in the world isn’t helping him get there any faster, and he’s panicking. His heart is racing and he’s sweating. JJ keeps shooting him concerned looks, but he can’t spare any time or thought to appease her right now.

“Come on!” He yells, laying on the horn. “Sirens, asshole! That means move!”

“There are officers all over the place,” JJ reminds him. “He’s not going to get away.”

“Yeah,” Derek says curtly. “Sure.”

“What, you’re the only one who can catch him?”

“Shots toward a federal agent. Garcia’s there,” he says tersely. “This guy knows she’s with us and he’ll go right for her.”

“Still. All those cops aren’t going to let anything happen to her,” JJ points out.

“She got shot before while I wasn’t there,” Derek says, swerving hard to get into a gap. They’re four blocks away. If he has to, he can ditch the SUV and run there.

“Derek, that wasn’t your fault,” JJ says.

“I don’t care.” He peels around a corner and throws the car into park. He’s out before JJ’s even unbuckled.

The whole situation’s handled by the time he gets inside, and he’d probably feel stupid about his mad dash to get there if he wasn’t so busy having a heart attack. Garcia’s holed up in a back room and he bursts in without regard for anyone watching. She jumps a little as he bangs into the room.

“Penelope.” He drops to his knees by her chair. “Oh, God. They said shots fired.”

“Wha—it’s okay. Hotch was right here the whole time, and all these officers too and they handcuffed him in like a second. He got one shot off but that’s it.”

“I thought…” Derek swallows hard, relief and adrenaline crash making him shaky. “I was so scared.”

She gets her arms around him and cradles his head, scratching lightly at the back of his neck like she does when they’re watching a movie after a particularly nasty case. “Hey,” she whispers. “I’m okay. Look at me. I’m fine.”

“Sure are,” he tries, but his voice comes out too weak to make much impact. It’s also muffled from where his face is pressed into her neck.

“Derek,” she murmurs. “You’re shaking. Hey, all this for little old me?”

“Come on, baby, you know it’s always all for you.” He should sound more joking, but he can’t muster up the right flirtatious tone.

“Alright, sweet talker, take it easy.” She gives him another squeeze and pushes him back enough to make eye contact. “You good?”

He puts his hands on her face and kisses her. He doesn’t even think; he just does it. She inhales sharply, but she kisses him back. He pulls away and looks at her.

“Uh,” she says. “Um. Okay. Was that—I mean. What?”

“Sorry,” he says. “Actually, I’m not sorry. Sorry I didn’t warn you first.”

“Why did you do that?” She sounds dazed. It would be gratifying if he hadn’t completely blitz attacked her.

“Because it was…natural. We’ve been standing on this ledge for years, baby girl. I was ready to jump.” He takes one of her hands and squeezes. She doesn’t squeeze back, but she doesn’t pull her hand away. Now she’s looking at him suspiciously.

“Is this like an adrenaline deal? Yay, we didn’t die, that kind of thing?”

“No,” he says firmly. “I mean, the adrenaline might’ve given me a push. But this has been on my radar forever. Come on, you’re really surprised?” He raises her hand and kisses her knuckles. It’s like a floodgate’s been opened—he kissed her once and he wants to keep doing it. Like a serial killer after his first kill. He shakes his head a little. Alright, bad comparison.

“I am surprised,” she tells him, staring at his lips on her hand. “It’s been years. We’ve always—but it was never like that.”

“I want it like that.” Derek says right away. “I know you and Kevin are still kind of—”

“No, me and Kevin are…there’s not a me and Kevin.” She’s starting to tighten her fingers around his. He’s smiling and he can’t stop.

“How about a you and me?” He asks, leaning closer again. A smile’s starting to grow on her face, too, and it’s making him giddy.

“You mean it?” Penelope checks. “You really do?”

He gets close enough for his breath to ghost over her lips. “I have never meant anything more in my life.”

She leans up and closes the distance between them. “Okay,” she breaks the kiss to say. “Yes, okay, yeah.”

“Yeah?” He teases, pulling back a little to watch her chase him. “You believe me now?”

“I don’t know,” she says, smirking. “I might need a little more convincing.”

Derek grins and leans back in. He is all too happy to convince her of this.


End file.
